Cat Magic - The Hole - By: Billy Hammond Keisuke is a student. He lives in Sumiyoshi-ku in Osaka. He is twelve. He has a sister. Her name is Yumi. She is eleven. They like cats. They have a cat named Ootama. Ootama is brown and white. Ootama likes milk. Ootama likes to play. Ootama is a young cat. Ootama likes to climb. Ootama likes to sleep. Ootama usually sleeps on the roof. Sometimes Ootama sleeps under the roof. Ootama is sleeping now. Ootama is sleeping under the roof. Keisuke is studying. Yumi is reading. Their mother is talking on the telephone and cooking. Their mother likes to talk with her friends on the telephone. The food is burning. Yumi smells smoke. She walks into the kitchen. She looks at the stove. She sees the smoke coming from the frying pan. She turns off the stove. The food is black. The food is still burning. She calls her mother. Her mother comes into the kitchen. She looks at the black food. She puts water in the frying pan. Fire jumps up! Keisuke smells smoke. He runs into the kitchen. He sees the fire. He gets the fire extinguisher. He sprays the fire. The fire dies. Mother cleans the foam. She washes the frying pan. She cleans the floor around the sink and under the kitchen table. She cleans the sink. She puts water in a kettle. She puts the kettle on the stove. She opens the cabinet under the sink. She takes out three packages of instant yakisoba. Keisuke watches her. Keisuke goes to the cabinet. He takes out another package of instant yakisoba. Keisuke is hungry. He ll eat two packages. The telephone rings. It s their mother s friend. Mother is talking on the phone. Yumi is watching the kettle. Keisuke is watching the kettle. 1
Ootama wakes up. Ootama walks to the kitchen. Ootama walks to the food dish on the floor. Milk is in the food dish. Ootama drinks some milk. Ootama looks at Keisuke and Yumi. They are looking at the stove. Yumi sees Ootama. She looks at Ootama s food dish. Ootama is a smart cat. Keisuke and Yumi can talk with Ootama. Ootama is a special cat. Only Keisuke and Yumi can talk with Ootama. Ootama calls Keisuke and Yumi. Ootama: There is a hole under the table. Yumi: Where? Ootama: There. Keisuke and Yumi look under the table. They look at the floor. Keisuke and Yumi: Where is the hole? Ootama: There. Yumi: I see it. Keisuke: Where? Ootama and Yumi: There. Keisuke: I can t see it. Yumi: Look next to the table leg. Keisuke: Now I see it. Ootama, Yumi and Keisuke go to the hole. Ootama looks into the hole. Ootama: This hole is a door. Keisuke: A door? Ootama: Yes. Look. Keisuke looks into the hole. Yumi looks into the hole. Keisuke: It s black inside. Yumi: I can t see inside. Ootama: There is a park inside the hole. Keisuke: I can t see the park. Yumi: There is no park. 2
Ootama: You are looking at the door. Keisuke: The door? Ootama: Yes. The door is black. There is a small window near the top of the door. Look through the window. Yumi: Now I see it. There is a very small window. Ootama: Let s visit the park. Yumi: How? The hole is very small. We are too big to go into the hole. Keisuke: Wait. I ll turn off the stove. Keisuke turns off the stove. He goes back to the hole. Ootama: We have to use Cat Magic. Yumi: What is Cat Magic. Ootama: Cats have magic. We use our magic to shrink. We use our magic to hunt. We use our magic to hide. Keisuke: Yumi and I are not cats. Ootama: You are my friends. I will teach you Cat Magic. Yumi: O.K. Keisuke: O.K. Please teach us to shrink. Ootama: All right. You have to think. Think to shrink. Keisuke: How? Ootama: Think. Think to shrink. Say, Think to shrink. Keisuke and Yumi: Think to shrink. Ootama: Good. Think to shrink. Keisuke: Where is Ootama? Ootama: I m here. Yumi: Where? I can t see you. Ootama: You can t see me because I am very small now. Say, Think to shrink. Keisuke and Yumi: Think to shrink. Ootama: Can you see me now? Keisuke and Yumi: Yes. Why can we see you now? Ootama: Because you are small now. Look at the table leg. Keisuke and Yumi look at the table leg. It is very big. They look at the hole. The hole is very big now. Keisuke, Yumi and Ootama go to the hole. They look inside. They see the door. The door has a window near the top. The window is very big. 3
Yumi: How can we go to the door? It s far away. Ootama: Cat Magic. Think to fly. Keisuke and Yumi: Think to fly. O.K. We re flying. Ootama: Push on the door. Keisuke, Yumi and Ootama push on the door. The door opens. There is a beautiful park. There are flowers and trees. They fly over the trees. Ootama: Let s land by the fountain. Keisuke: O.K. They land next to a beautiful fountain. There are orange dragonflies flying over the fountain. There are blue and gold butterflies flying near the fountain. Ootama: Breaktime. Yumi: Where are you going? Ootama: Excuse me for a minute. Cat business. I ll be right back. Ootama walks to the trees. Keisuke and Yumi walk in the park. They see a cave in a corner of the park. They walk towards the cave. Ootama returns. Ootama: Wait! Stop! Keisuke and Yumi stop. Ootama: You cannot go into the cave. Yumi: Why? Ootama: It s dangerous. Keisuke: What is in the cave? Ootama: It is a door. Yumi: Another door? To where? Ootama: It is a door to another beautiful place. You can go there someday. Keisuke: Why not today? Ootama: You don t have enough Cat Magic now. We have to return to the kitchen. 4
Your mother is hanging up the phone. Keisuke: How do you know? Ootama: Cat Magic. Keisuke and Yumi: O.K. Let s go. Ootama: Think to fly. Keisuke and Yumi: Think to fly. They fly to the door. They push on the door. They return to under the table. Ootama: Think to grow. Keisuke and Yumi: Think to grow. Their mother comes into the kitchen. Mother: Keisuke and Yumi! What are you doing under the table? Keisuke and Yumi: Oh, nothing. Copyright 2002, by Billy Hammond and A.E.L.S. ¼ ¼ ò URL http://www.tanutech.com/japan/cat_magic.html 5